Gotta say, I'm disappointed that Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape Torment didn't even get a mention. I get that chopping the list off at eight entries means that some great games are gonna get left out, but still. :(

No Planescape: Torment, Path of Exile, nor any of the Torchlight or Diablo games?

Not sure if I'm disappointed or glad. On the one hand, they represent some of the best and most well known examples of the genre. On the other hand, it's nice to see lesser known titles included in the list.

I can understand not wanting to put more than one entry-per series on there (hence no Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights II, Icewind Dale II)

But I do think that Planescape Torment and Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura should be on there. One could make an argument for KoToR being on the list, since it used a the same engine as neverwitner Nights-even reusing assets like the Umber Hulk.

I love Neverwinter Nights a fair bit, in fact I'd be the first to say it's a must-play for any fan of the rpg genre... but an 'amazing campaign'? Really? The original NWN campaign was terrible. It had a mediocre story, boring characters, and way too much padding to be worthwhile. Hell, I can't even remember who the villain was and normally I'm great at this. Was there a villain? I remember Aribeth and that she turned on you, but my main motivation for remember her as a character was her inclusion in the much better Hordes of the Underdark expansion campaign. And really for developer content the best campaign in the franchise without question goes to Neverwinter Nights 2's Mask of the Betrayer. Now *that* was an amazing campaign.

Also I'd have included Baldur's Gate 2 in favor of the first game, just because it's generally agreed upon to be the better of the two. Same goes for Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall was far superior to the original release and I'd say was more deserving of mention, especially seeing as it's now standalone. Props for mentioning Temple of Elemental Evil and the Circle of Eight mod though, that game gets overlooked was too often in this sort of discussion.

Nitpicking and personal preferences aside though it's a solid list. If it were a top 10 I'd have thrown in Planescape: Torment and Arcanum, but can't have everything I guess.

All of the suggestions here are greatr ones, and it hurt me not to include Planescape: Torment in here, but I wanted to get a few of these other games in here. Plus, I had already used Torment on a list of games with great stories a couple of weeks ago.

The Madman:Same goes for Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall was far superior to the original release and I'd say was more deserving of mention, especially seeing as it's now standalone. Props for mentioning Temple of Elemental Evil and the Circle of Eight mod though, that game gets overlooked was too often in this sort of discussion.

Holy crap, I did not know Shadowrun: Dragonfall was standalone now. That's awesome.

The Madman:I love Neverwinter Nights a fair bit, in fact I'd be the first to say it's a must-play for any fan of the rpg genre... but an 'amazing campaign'? Really? The original NWN campaign was terrible. It had a mediocre story, boring characters, and way too much padding to be worthwhile. Hell, I can't even remember who the villain was and normally I'm great at this. Was there a villain? I remember Aribeth and that she turned on you, but my main motivation for remember her as a character was her inclusion in the much better Hordes of the Underdark expansion campaign. And really for developer content the best campaign in the franchise without question goes to Neverwinter Nights 2's Mask of the Betrayer. Now *that* was an amazing campaign.

I agree. Seeing NWN in that list was a bit of a surprise since it's not isometric in the classic sense of the word. As a huge fan of NWN though, I'm always happy to see the game get some coverage (it's too often overlooked in these discussions) so it didn't bother me that much. But calling the original campaign amazing is stretching things past breaking point. The expansions' campaigns were certainly better, but I personally think they still paled in comparison to some of the custom adventures built by the community.

Knight Captain Kerr:I must admit, I'm surprised Planescape: Torment wasn't on the list. Usually it comes up whenever isometric RPGs are mentioned.

I just finished Icewind Dale last week, going to start Icewind Dale 2 soon. Lot of games on this list that I've either played and enjoyed or are on my to play pile.

Planescape: Torment has the worst gameplay of any of these games on the list, so that might have something to do with it. Still, the story, characters, and atmosphere are still among the best ever, without exaggerating. I would have liked to see it on the list. It should have taken NWN's place, tbh. Not to say NWN is bad; I love the shit out of it, but it's not isometric and should therefore be disqualified.

No Planescape: Torment, Path of Exile, nor any of the Torchlight or Diablo games?

Not sure if I'm disappointed or glad. On the one hand, they represent some of the best and most well known examples of the genre. On the other hand, it's nice to see lesser known titles included in the list.

It's an interesting list. You certainly surprised me.

Torment should qualify I think, but it's really the same as Icewind Dale or Bauldurs Gate in terms of "Isometric-ness". Maybe Black Isle should have just gotten it's own entry, nearly everything they made was classic RPG.

Also, Torchlight and Diablo are not usually classified as RPG's they are "action-rpgs". Might sound pedantic, but I tend to agree with the classification. I like both kinds of games quite a bit, but I don't think they are the same thing. I like my action RPG's to be "action-y" for sure, and less RPG.